AL representative guides vet into closed WWII national monument

Despite the shutdown of the federal government and the subsequent closure of dozens of attractions, including Washington, D.C's World War II Memorial, some soldiers who fought in that war were not going to be kept from seeing the monument built in their honor.

Among those in the group of veterans was Raymond Stanley, a Henry County, Alabama native. Holding his arm and escorting him through the massive monument was Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6).

Bachus, who recently announced he was not going to run for re-election to his seat, issued a statement regarding the vets' tour of the monument.

"The America that I have known would have welcomed our
WWII Veterans with open arms and spared no effort to make their tour of the
monument as pleasant and honorable as possible," Rep. Bachus said. "For them to be greeted by
barricades is not the America that our forefathers left us."

Stanley entered the Army in 1943 and served two and a half years in
England, France and Germany.

Even as the veterans toured the monument, it remains officially closed by the National Park Service, until the U.S. Congress passes a federal budget to reopen the government.